Completely Mad: A History of the Comic Book and Magazine

by Maria Reidelbach

Reidelbachs witty text analyzes the magazines influence on the culture at large & men & women who put out this national treasure (or desecration, depending on your point of view). Alexander Isleys lively, sophisticated design incorporates 200 black-and-white drawings from Mad masters, as well as over 350 color shots, including reproductions of every one of the magazines covers since 1952. Completely Mad is a must for every all-American rec room!

Genres: Humor, Comics, History, Nonfiction, Comix, Art, Biography

208 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1992

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

In addition to tracing the origins and history of the magazine, there are separate chapters on the magazine’s dominant concerns—for instance, one chapter is on Mad’s parodies of popular culture (television, films, cartoons), while another is on its subversions of Madison Avenue. One particularly well-researched chapter explores the origins of the iconic Mad mascot, Alfred E. Neuman. Includes reproductions of cover art and panels from the stories. You might want a magnifying glass to see the finer details in some of the reproductions of the artwork.

Acquired 2005
City Lights Book Shop, London, Ontario

[captain america · Rating 5 out of 5]

my opinion of the book itself may be marred by fond remembrances of hours of reading mad as a kid in the 60s. i had to sneak copies into the house as it was forbidden by my parents as "garbage".
times have changed.

[Khairul Hezry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book! About the early days of MAD Magazine and how it became one of America's favourite satirical comic mags.

[Scott Sandberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always a fan of MAD magazine!! Fascinating insight into the best satarical periodical ever!!

[Mike Hunchback · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best gateway drugs to EC fandom ... Reidelback created a legendary piece of work.

[Immigration Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

This wonderful book is the history of MAD Magazine, in chronological order, organized by topics (such as the satirization of the publishing industry; the skewering of the advertising industry that was (and still is) underpinning mindless middle American consumerism; the bashing of television personalities and productions, and on the bigger screen, the self-indulgent celebrities and the movies in which they star; and the pulverizing of the mindless, conformist, popular culture at large).

EC Comics, publisher of the MAD humor comic books, was owned by Max Gaines (and then, later, by his son, William M. Gaines). The MAD humor comic books later evolved to become MAD magazine.

The switch of MAD from the comic book format to that of a magazine resulted in removing MAD from the comics industry strictures imposed by the "Comics Code Authority" (CCA).

The CCA was a set of content guidelines -- nothing more than cowardly self-censorship imposed on publishers by the publishers of comics themselves -- to derail and to short circuit the hell-bent Congressionally propelled witch hunt ("the Comic Books Scare of the 1950s" ), which threatened to regulate the content of comic books, like EC's Tales from the Crypt, War comics, True Crime comics, and Humor comics, by federal legislation.

Wait. What? Regulate content? Even with the First Amendment, designed to avoid this very threat? Why?

Because "the Comic Books Scare of the 1950s" convinced parents and educators that horror, true crime, and other comics widely available were allegedly too amoral and morbid for kids and would warp the minds of these impressionable youth of America.

So, the MAD comic book escaped this CCA censorship because MAGAZINES were not subject to the restrictions of the insidious CCA.

This book, a history of an iconic publication, was a joy to read and re-read -- a real trip down memory lane. I read every issue of MAD Magazine from late 1971 through 1980. After 1980, the National Lampoon and Spy Magazine began to routinely replace MAD as the satirical publications of choice.

Nevertheless, from MAD magazine, I learned that the gap between reality and appearances was large; the world was full of idiots and blowhards; grown-ups will lie to avoid conflict (or just lie for the hell of it); greed machine entities of the establishment will rob you blind; teachers are fallible and suspect; politics is corrupt; and everyone should question authority.

And these valuable lessons were delivered in funny, clever, truly entertaining stories, parodies, and amusing, yet biting, lampoons of the familiar. It is the bleakness of the every day garbage we're required to sort through that weighs us down. This weight is a large burden, in this society, into which we are thrust, without much choice. The role of MAD magazine was to preemptively decimate -- or at least deflate -- this societal burden for the sake of lightening our spirits, for the purpose of preserving our own sanity.

It really is a MAD world, isn't it?

5 Stars.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great review of Mad Magazine and the history of comic books.

Mad absolutely influenced my mind. In the early-to-mid 1960's, as a single-digit kid in Minnesota who loved to read, I had access to my teenaged brother's subscription to Mad. My dad used to say, "My friends criticize me for giving [my brother] a subscription to Mad, but I want him to enjoy the pleasure of reading."

So I learned that Mad was sort of a forbidden pleasure and read every issue cover-to-cover, over and over and over. I didn't understand most of it, of course. But I *got* that there was something interesting, funny and very different in those pages.

I loved to read the other magazines around the house from my mom and way-older teen sister. So I'd see the regular ads and stories, for instance, and then recognize the satire of what Mad artists did to those topics. Breck shampoos ads featured lovely drawings of pretty women with fancy hair. Mad's take on the Breck ads featured a caricatured Ringo Starr (my favorite Beatle). That one really got to me, in a good way!

[Bea · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best parts of this book are the numerous cartoons, articles, and cover reprints from Mad magazine over its 50-year history. I read the magazine as a teenager in the 60's and it brought back some of subversive glee it gave me at the time.

The subject matter content is also pretty good. I thought the most interesting parts were about Mad's pre-magazine origins and the side bars about the various artists.

Would recommend this to anyone who was ever enthralled by Mad, comic books, or satire.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine, benign overview of the magazine--best when talking about Gaines and his staff and controversies; worst when attempting to explain satire, the late twentieth century, or why Mad is funny. (Didn't quite kill the frog, but he's not looking at all well.) Biggest annoyance: sidebars that continue over several pages. No substitute for any copy or anthology of Mad, but a great reminder of why I miss them.

[Ellee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly informative! I was really impressed & learned a lot about the early comics industry in the United States. :D

[Aaron · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good resource on the magazine Mad Magazine.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great stuff.When I got divorced I tossed a huge collection of Mad,which sucked.I just didn't have space.This is a great history book.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really really loved MAD magazine as a kid, from about 9 until about 12 or so, a formative time! This book was published over thirty years ago when the magazine was still being distributed to newsstands, but no longer at its peak of popularity. I guess now it’s only available in comic book stores and the offices are in California. For me MAD is a NYC phenomenon so that’s hard to grasp. The book itself is a bit chaotic, but I didn’t feel compelled to read every word or squint at every too-small reproduction. But it still was a lot of fun for me.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most interesting parts with the reprints of old material from Mad. The story of Mad had some other notable events (Supreme Court battles, etc.), but not so much.

[Tim Decker]

MAD magazine is not only a cultural icon but an amazing journey of all the artist involved.

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have recently been reading a lot of comic book history books - a history of EC artists, a history of the conflicts between DC and Marvel - so I thought this would be just as much fun. Unfortunately, I found huge swathes of this book boring. I liked Mad when I was a kid, but I don't find that it has aged well or that I'm that nostalgic for it. So although I found aspects of this book interesting - the early years, trying to trace the origins of Alfred E. Neuman - the decade-by-decade recitation of the artists and their approach, the description of the Mad offices begin to feel like filler.

I also found the format a little confusing. Text is interspersed with reprinted comics from Mad and artists' biographies, sometimes all sprawling over several pages. It's a little hard to follow at times, despite the colour coding. Then you have other comments praising the magazine which run through main text, moving up, down and sideways. It's a bit of a mess at times.

My only other complaint is the Reidelbach sometimes seems to be trying too hard to aggrandize the whole Mad crew. It reminds me a bit of Playboy's old "the magazine that changed America" line. It's a little too much.

An OK history of Mad, best enjoyed if you're already a fan, or you are completely new to the magazine. Otherwise, it's a bit of a rehash and best skimmed through.

I think Reidelbach tries

[Jason Schmidt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maria Reidelbach’s history of Mad Magazine is about more than just a retrospective on the comics and humor in the magazine, and in fact, if one were to go into this book, thinking it is a “best of”, I think they would be very disappointed. Reidelbach focuses on the people involved with the development of Mad Magazine over the last several decades, but she is even more interested in using Mad Magazine as a lens to discuss things like the comic code authority, McCarthyism, shifts in political viewpoints in America (and globally), artistic integrity, the Great Depression, sexual identity and racial identity. She also doesn’t ignore some of the more questionable choices Mad Magazine has made over its run, including homophobic and sexist humor, and racist imagery and depictions. This book was published in the early 90s, and I wish that it continued all the way to the present in which now Mad Magazine is basically a relic of a different time. Yet, I found this to be a very engaging book that really came off quite a bit more insightful and thoughtful than many “history of” books that I have read in the past.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not read this book. I looked through it to see if I wanted to read it, and it looks well-done and it has many images, but I'm not a fan of MAD. (I've never even looked thru an issue.)

Just skimming through it, I learned quite a bit ... and I know who will appreciate the book so I will be passing it on.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d been looking for a Mad collection for awhile. This is brilliant. A reminder of the incisive wit that filled Mad week in week out. Mad was my kind of comic, more so than the adventure hero stuff. Mad offended the uptight adults and kept us kids entertained.

[Lew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice history of Mad Magazine up until 1991 when this was published. Lots of nice reprints of covers and examples from within the magazine. I was a subscriber of Mad in the mid 60s during my early teens so this was a bit nostalgic for me.

[Liedzeit Liedzeit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Die Geschichte von Mad Magazine, kompetent, aber ohne das gewisse jnsq. Worin wir unter anderem lernen, dass Schürbeln im Original 43-man Squamish heißt. Von Tom Koch in MAD #95.

[Knute Snortum · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating look at Mad, the comic book and magazine, the times and events surrounding it, and the people behind it. The book is several years old now, but it holds up pretty well.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wasn't there a mad show? My brother's and I weren't allowed to watch it

[Barry · Rating 5 out of 5]

The original exhaustive history of the classic humor comic, then magazine.
Delves into the roots of Alfred, EC comics, Wm. Gaines, and the usual bunch of idiots.

[Bjm Index]

8

[TrumanCoyote · Rating 4 out of 5]

[FIRST READING: * * * * * ]

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting and well-researched history of MAD. Would love to see another edition of it updated to today.